Crow's Nest (level)/Walkthrough
Walkthrough Recommended Skulls The recommended skulls for this mission are Tough Luck, Fog, Famine and Thunderstorm. Tough Luck is not much of a nuisance, especially with the 1.5 multiplier. The only consequence is the absence of easy grenade sticks. As with Fog, crowded battles like the one in the motor pool and Barracks could be a little fraught, but in this mission, being ruthlessly attacked from behind without beforehand notice is quite rare. Famine is a curse for all EMP/Headshot bonus lovers, with Plasma Pistols never at full charge, conversing the plasma weaponry is a great and desperate benefit. Although the Barracks are littered with Marine weapon dispensers, using human firearms are not affected that much by this skull. And finally, Thunderstorm. There are many Brutes in this level, each dominant with their new promotions, beating them might be a challenge, but there's not too much Thunderstorm changes in this level. However, the player must be careful when facing Brute Captains. Catch can also be used without much consequences. Take out all Grunts you encounter though, as you can be easily stuck by a grenade when you aren't looking, especially at the last areas of the map. Starting Weapons MISSION START Ops Center and South Hangar Exit the Operations Center, collecting a Battle Rifle and Magnum on your way out. Your rifle is very effective against Grunts; a single, precise headshot could immediately topple any type of them. The Magnum is for duel-wielding with either a Plasma Pistol or a Plasma Rifle. Leveling an opponent's shield before making a one last headshot is a recommended way to eliminate Brutes. The Black Eye skull is somewhere in the Ops Center, visit Skull/Halo 3 for details. Once you reach the road tunnel, an initial group of Grunts and Jackals will attack, keep your distance and pick them off with your Battle Rifle, any Fragmentation Grenades picked up is also a good choice against this type of enemy. If you're feeling like ammunition is necessary to preserve (like when activating Famine), you can wait for the enemies to near the Fusion Coils, and then force them to explode with gunfire. Take care of the Brute hanging behind the first squad, and cautiously move towards the South Hanger. Grunts, backed up by Jackals with Covenant Carbines, will charge around the corner at the end of the corridor. If you're feeling confident, spring into their line of sight, and nail then in turn with headshots. Yet again, if ammo is only to be spent when necessary, duck behind cover and use Frag Grenades to disable incoming forces. You can also pick up an SMG in the water to the right-hand side, but swap it back for your previous weapon when you proceed from this battle. Battling Covenant forces in the South Hangar takes a considerable amount of consideration to a good systematic approach. Use your Battle Rifle to take out the Grunts and Jackals that ascend the stairs. Be quick, or else they may be able to eliminate some of your Marines, and make the following battle much more difficult. Ensure that you have a full supply of grenades before dashing over to the room upstairs before the Phantoms arrive. Collect more ammunition here, and, if possible, a Plasma Pistol. Break the window with melee attacks, and then leap through to rapidly return. You can carry the Machine Gun Turret on the second level down, but this is risky, with hordes of Covenant forces pressing down onto you, mobility may be more important than raw firepower. The first two Phantoms will drop off a number of Grunts, Brutes and Jackals. Take cover behind the closed weapons cabinet, this provides safety against both Brute Shots and probably grenades, not to mention giving you a clear view of incoming enemies. Drop your Plasma Pistol in a memorable spot, and then start neutralizing the Grunts and Jackals. The attack force won’t have much cover on the landing pad, not that they actually plan to use it, but this gives you an advantage over almost all enemies you are pitted against. The Brutes generally stand out in the center of the pad, exposed to all gunfire, and just left of your position at the weapons cabinet. Attempt to clear out the Grunts on both the left and right-hand sides of your position, or you will be surrounded. Despite their valiant lack of cover, dealing with the Brutes is a somewhat challenging task. Pick up that dropped Plasma Pistol and start executing the EMP/Headshot technique against all the Brutes. The Magnum pistol is a weak weapon unless accurate, so choose your shots carefully. This is not the time you’d want any berserk Brutes. If your Marine allies are still alive and ready, they’d be able to contribute vital kills, consider this a reward for conserving your teammates. Enemy fire will also most likely be directed to them, whilst this decreases their chances of survival, it gives you the opportunity to pick off enemy units while they’re distracted. Before the final wave of adversaries arrive, make your way up and pick up supplies (ammunition, grenades etc.). Stay near the Machine Gun Turret as the Phantom arrives, but cling onto your Battle Rifle for the time being. Then the Grunts drop in, take them out in turn with your weapon, and then, one they’ve been neutralized, hop onto the turret and sweep up any remaining troops. Pick up that Machine Gun Turret and make your way back to the Ops Center, the journey back is faster if you drop the turret, but if you don’t, it’ll be useful for later. The small cave that you must pass through before reaching the Operations Center is an ambush point for an entire swarm of Drones. Position yourself beside the small corner wall to the right as quick as you can, the Covenant will arrive very soon. As they flood out of the ceiling, stay behind the fence wall and keep your turret at the ready. Keep firing and avoid incoming fire from the insectoid beings. Your first targets should be the small force of Drones that attack from the right, but if you move further along, you could also be able to wipe out a great amount of the enemies at the center of the cave. Keep ducking in and out of cover to unleash small, controlled bursts of Machine Gun fire as you eliminate the Drone force. Use common sense to only stroll out when it’s safe, and this frenzy may not be as hard as expected. When the battle finishes, your turret should be nearly out of ammo, so go to the left-hand side of the cave, climb the big rock, and detach another one there. RALLY POINT ALPHA Sewers and Motor Pool The room beyond the Ops Center is a death trap for those who are not careful and preservative. It’s a showdown against a Chieftain, accompanied by approximately a dozen Brutes, and no checkpoints. But, fortunately enough, this battle might not be as fraught and difficult as fear might suggest. The correct technique is sort of a cat-and-mouse chase with your opponents; hiding from the enemy until they draw near to investigate, and then striking when the time comes. It is also recommended that you detach a turret found in the area that you fought the Drones, as it helps kills the Brutes faster. As soon as you go down the stairs; DO NOT enter the room where the Brutes are waiting for. If you go too far in, the door to the ops center will close, shutting you out of very useful ammo (though there are some ammo lockers in this room). Get rid of the Deployable Covers first, then fire on the Chieftain until he activates his Invincibility unit or dies. After the Chieftain dies, it is safe enough to enter the room. This is because the area is exceedingly narrow to avoid strikes from a Gravity Hammer, apart from a few Gravity Lifts lying in front of you. Try to weaken up the Chieftain a bit more after his Invincibility runs out if he used it. Take out the other Brutes quickly with the Battle Rifle, focusing on headshots to kill them instantly once their armor is stripped. You may be inclined to rush up to clear the remaining enemies, but you might get killed quickly. Slowly take out the rest of the enemies and resupply when needed. After resupplying, go down a shaft to a vent section of the base. Drones will occasionally fly through the pipes, ignoring the player unless you get too close or fire on them. Go past the Drones when it is clear. The Grunt Birthday Party skull is below this area; after reaching the end of the vent section, crouch forward then move back quickly to avoid falling down, as you will miss the skull if you do. Once you grab it (or already have it), drop down to meet up with Thel. You can avoid the Drone battle by simply killing the first one and dropping off the edge. They will not follow. Barracks and Landing Pad Bravo You have the right to be a little afraid when you know that this upcoming fight can be slightly tricky, with almost no checkpoints and a large number of Brutes. Plus the fact that there are no Needlers here and very short supply of Plasma Pistols, except the one that you picked up during the previous Covenant encounter. On all difficulties, there are Brutes throughout the Barracks. On Heroic and Legendary, there are two groups of Jackals on the upper walkway. A suitable rule about fighting here is to always stick to the ground floor; a surprise attack from an unseen Brute is imminent unless you do so. The Arbiter and any surviving Marines would help by drawing the opposition’s attention whilst you strike stealthily, the Arbiter’s dual Plasma Rifles are also excel at lowering the Brutes’ shields, leaving them vulnerable to headshots. Your grenades are equally as useful; lob them into the midst of the enemy to disable each of their shields by a considerable amount. The Spike Grenades you collected earlier on also help clear out the enemies, since there are more to obtain in this area. First of all, target the Brutes nearest to you, employ charged Plasma Pistol blasts followed up by well-aimed headshots to finish them off. Then switch to your Battle Rifle and kill the two Jackals on the upper walkway, this gives you two additional Plasma Pistols to use. But use your original one for now, you can either open fire with the Battle Rifle as you near the corner rooms, or fight at close range, using you EMP/Headshot combo against the Brutes. Move cautiously to the corner, there still might be Brute(s) hiding in the showers, check to your right before heading up the stairs to investigate. The second long corridor is home to not as many opposing troops as the first, and fortunately there are no Jackals here to worry about. Although this place is an arguably riskier battlefield than the previous one. You had the luxury of a checkpoint before, but now you don’t, until you’ve cleared this corridor. The most deadly obstacle here is the Brute wielding a Brute Shot, who positions himself outside the second shower area. Use a charged Plasma Pistol blast to disable his power armor as fast as possible then finish him off with a properly aimed Magnum shot. There is a way to take the enemy by surprise and remain in good cover, especially from grenades. From the shower block, jump across to the upper walkway in the second corridor. There is a ladder to your right that will let you into the vents above, with several holes to shoot through. Spike grenades will not make it up into the vent with you, but the shrapnel still hurts so when one is thrown back away. You can follow this for a fair while, strategically picking off brutes. Turn around the final corner you’ll encounter a group of Brutes, accompanied by yet a War Chieftain using a detached Plasma Turret. Make sure you dive back into cover once a single plasma blast hits you, the rapid fire rate of the turret means about a dozen following shots that could easily end your life on harder difficulties. The door on the right just before the corner is vital to winning this fight; you can use the short corridor behind it to ambush the Brute force whilst your allies draw their fire away from you. Plasma Pistols and Spike Grenades can deliver destructive force when used properly against these enemies. A number of charged EMP shots could vastly lower his power armor, when the helmet is off, a headshot from your Battle Rifle should do the trick. Grab more Battle Rifle ammunition and swap your Magnum for a Carbine once the fight is over, then collect the dropped Plasma Turret prior to departing. Descend the elevator, and enter Landing Pad Bravo, a place where Pelicans used to land to deploy troops, but is now the place where Jump Pack Brutes land to make another feeble attempt to kill John-117. To the left of the elevator exit,there is ammunition for both the Assault rifle and the Battle rifle which can help on higher difficulties. Everyone should know that, unless you’re on Easy or Normal difficulty and you’re a skilled player, a heroic march straight onto the landing pad could be problematic. In other words, the safest technique is to plan this operation carefully. There’s very little cover here and the Jump Pack Brutes could be a massive problem. They are mobile and can hover in the air, but with a price, when you melee a Brute when he is landing, the results are deadly, when you melee a Brute’s Jet Pack when he’s landing, the results are both explosive and deadly. The second reason to not be in a frenzy with a group of Jump Pack Brutes is their unpredictability and habit of using equipment, such as Radar Jammers and Trip Mines. Once you have engaged the first group of Brutes, reinforcements will drop down from the control room and land on the pad. Later in the battle, about half a dozen more will join the fray and make things even more difficult. If the amount of grenades is still in your favor, you can position some at the middle of the pad as a little welcoming gift for the new arrivals. Be patient throughout this fight, not another checkpoint will present itself until every last Brute has been struck down. It is an encouragement to try making your stand anywhere in the lower level beneath the landing pad, although the safest spot is by the large metal crate directly outside the elevator door. This is exactly why it was useful to bring along the turret with you, just take point in a safe place until the Brutes near you, and then fire controlled plasma bursts at them until their power armor fails, and then either switch to the Battle Rifle for an instant headshot, or simply continue shooting it with the turret. If you did not bring it along, the battle is much more difficult, but there is a free supply of Battle Rifles on the wall dispensers to the right of the elevator. The metal crate isn’t perfectly safe, despite being the best cover there is in the area. Although it’s a flank-less spot where Brutes located to the left and right can’t hit you. Some Brutes also try to jump onto a position at the bottom of the nearby steps, where they’d be a sitting duck against your high-powered Plasma Turret. Though, through an unlucky and unfortunate turn of events, a Brute might, just might, land directly on top of the crate, and/or just beside you. Note: Before you leave this area, go to the control room up top and grab a Cloaking. RALLY POINT BRAVO Ops Center and South Hangar II The two indoor roads that lead to the motor pool are now crawling with dozens of Grunts backed up by shielded Jackals. There are also a several planted Plasma Turrets manned by Grunts, though they are less dangerous as one might presume, you can usually kill the operator with a couple of shots. Just simply use all cover you can, only exposing yourself to wipe out all visible enemies as you proceed. Although, once you turn the corner and battle your way to the motor pool entrance, there are a few Jackals up top. On Easy and Normal, they are your typical Jackal sniper, carrying Carbines. On Heroic and Legendary though, they have Beam Rifles instead. A forth plasma cannon is also placed in the motor pool on Heroic and Legendary. Carefully take out the Jackals after all other enemies are dispatched. Swap out one of your weapons for the Beam Rifle before proceeding. Now back in the Ops Center, take note of the surroundings. On Easy and Normal, there are just two Brutes, Grunts and a War Chieftain (using a Fuel Rod this time). On Heroic and Legendary, there's a Plasma Turret just above the War Chieftain manned by a third Brute, and a few more Grunts. Take out the Brute manning the turret first, then lure the other Brutes and Grunts until they're dead. The War Chieftain will be the last enemy left; use the Cloaking and assassinate him from behind. Arm the bomb once all enemies are killed. In the first tunnel area, there will be panicking Grunts and a few Jackals. Either run your way through (not recommended if Catch is active) or clear out all of the enemies first. You will then return to the road tunnel; more Grunts are panicking and a swarm of Drones fly overhead. The Grunts will be your only concern here; the Drones do not stop to fire on you. You return trip to the South Hangar is actually not as dangerous as your first. The remaining Covenant are a scurrying bunch of Grunts and Jackals, easy prey for the Battle Rifle. There is additional ammunition in the upper level room, but you can just simply fight your way to the elevator and escape the ensuing chaos. Debriefing New Enemies: Jump Pack Brute, Drone New Veichles:-------- New Items: Radar Jammer, Grav Lift, Deployable Cover, Regenerator, Power Drain, Cloaking New Weapons: Plasma Turret, Machine Gun Turret, SMG, Plasma Rifle, Spike Grenade, This level promotes a lot more weapons and, most notably, more items, than the first. You should learn to get used to them and maybe start taking advantage over the different weapons, possessing knowledge of their weaknesses and strengths; you might want to warm up with them if you’re already a veteran of the Covenant war and completed at least one of the previous Halo games. Demon Achievement Milestone: 15,000 points Recommended Multipliers: 4+ (Fog (1.5) + Famine (2) + Thunderstorm (1.5) + Tough Luck (1.5)) TIME BONUS 0-20 min – 3x 20-25 min – 2.5x 25-30 min – 2x 30-40 min – 1.5x Category:Halo 3 Category:Walkthroughs